The Trump administration is challenging Los Angeles’ sanctuary city policies in court, the latest major city to be targeted for laws that restrict cooperation between federal immigration authorities and local law enforcement.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a lawsuit Monday against the City of Los Angeles, according to court documents obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation. In its lawsuit, federal prosecutors claim LA’s sanctuary laws not only obstruct Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) mission, but also violate the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution.
“The City of Los Angeles’ Sanctuary City laws are illegal,” the DOJ wrote in court documents, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.
“Those laws and policies are designed to and in fact do interfere with and discriminate against the Federal Government’s enforcement of federal immigration law in violation of the Supremacy Clause of the United States Constitution,” the lawsuit continues.
A spokesperson for Mayor Karen Bass’ office did not respond to a request for comment from the DCNF.
Shortly following President Donald Trump’s re-election victory, Los Angeles made its status as a sanctuary city official, as did a number of major localities across the U.S. in rebuke to the president’s promise of a large-scale deportation effort.
Like most other sanctuary laws, Los Angeles’ policies restrict how local officials can cooperate or otherwise interact with federal immigration officials. The ordinance prohibits city resources — including personnel and property — from being used for immigration enforcement and also bars the sharing of data with deportation officers.
The state as a whole has enacted policies that make it incredibly more difficult for deportation officers to operate.
“The challenged law and policies of the City of Los Angeles obstruct the Federal Government’s enforcement of federal immigration law and impede consultation and communication between federal, state, and local law enforcement officials that is necessary for federal officials to carry out federal immigration law and keep Americans safe,” the DOJ lawsuit states.
“The practical upshot of Los Angeles’ refusal to cooperate with federal immigration authorities has, since June 6, 2025, been lawlessness, rioting, looting, and vandalism,” the lawsuit continued, referring to the days of anti-ICE riots that swept the LA area earlier in June. “The situation became so dire that the Federal Government deployed the California National Guard and United States Marines to quell the chaos.”
In response to targeted ICE enforcement operations in Los Angeles that month, protesters began demonstrating against the agency — with the protests eventually devolving into riots.
More than 1,000 rioters surrounded a federal building, assaulted ICE agents, slashed tires and defaced government property, according to ICE. Media footage of the mayhem shows anti-ICE rioters blocking traffic, defacing public property, setting cars ablaze and waving the flags of numerous foreign countries. Altogether, the mayhem cost the city around $20 million in damage so far.
Los Angeles is just the latest jurisdiction to be targeted for its sanctuary laws. Since returning to office, Trump has waged courtroom battles against a growing slate of city and state governments for their anti-ICE policies.
The Trump administration in June filed a lawsuit against New York over a sanctuary law that dramatically restricts immigration enforcement actions, naming Gov. Kathy Hochul and New York Attorney General Letitia James, both Democrats, as defendants. Federal prosecutors in February sued Chicago, the surrounding Cook County and the State of Illinois for their sanctuary policies, and in May, the DOJ sued several New Jersey cities for their policies prohibiting ICE cooperation.
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